OIL RIG TRIP
OIL RIG DIVES
Trip Report
Sunday, June 15, 2003
This trip was scheduled though the SOCDC on the Sundiver boat and we had
21 members on the trip. A group of us meet at the Laguna Hills mall early this morning to carpool. The morning got off to a
slow start as the starting time was mis-communicated and a certain group leader had problems using an alarm clock. (Back to Kindergarten for her)
The trip was sold as an advanced dive because the maximum depth was well below the recreation diving limit of 130 feet. Laurel as the trip organizer; put some stringent skill level requirements on the people allowed on the trip. Thankfully, she did this. These where challenging dives. To quote Rich, "I found that the way the water "Moves" through the structure really messes with your feeling of staying neutrally buoyant, because the water moves vertically, as well as horizontally, takes some getting used to."
Dive #1: Eureka Oil Rig (Depth:=140, Avg:=49ft Time:=40, Viz:=30-40ft, and Temp:=55)
For most, the general plan was to go deep to satify the requirement for a Padi deep diving certification. I decided to go deep to add another 100ft dive to my dive log. I want to have enough 100ft dives in my dive log for when I decide to go for a technical deep diving certification. My plan was to get to around 130ft and maybe a little below my previous max depth of 131ft. I slowly dropped down to 130ft and then I saw an interesting patch of something on the structure at about 140ft, so I glided down to explore for a second. Then I slowly worked my way up the rig while keeping a close eye on my dive computer. At about 80ft I ran into a solo diver with what appeared to be a yellow mask and snorkel. I knew this yellow combination was similar to Louis but the diver looked like Lori. I could not tell who I ran into, so I keep looking and looking at him/her. Back at the boat, I found out it was Lori. We spent about 10 minutes cruising around the structure. We moved up the rig slowly, till at about 50ft Lori
signaled that she was low on air and was going up. I had my high pressure steel 120 tank on this dive, so I left her go and I slowly continued my assent. At 15 feet, I found an exposed cleat on the rig and grabbed on and hovered for awhile. I knew that I had tons of nitrogen in my system, so I decided that a three minute safety stop would be way too short. I keep extending the length of the stop, looking at the various marine life and the configuration of the oil rig. At 10 minutes in to the safety stop, I decided I had enough of hovering. I swam around the rig a little, but keep coming back to my cleat. At 13 minutes, I decided I would surface and calm any concerns my friends had about me being gone so long.
Dive #2: Eli and Elia Oil Rig (Depth:=62, Avg:=39ft, Time:=22, Viz:=20-30ft, and Temp:=55)
On the second dive, my plan was be the best dive buddy I could for Kathi and help her get comfortable with her new drysuit.
After we giant strided off the boat, we had to kick hard against the current to get close to the oil rig. Kathi was not making
great forward progress, so I gave her a little of Marc's towing service. When we were close to the rig, we took a quick break
and then dropped down. At 50 or so feet we kicked over to the rig, but this was not too easy in itself. The surge in the structure
tossed us around fairly badly. I could tell that Kathi was not very comfortable, so I made sure to put a hand on her shoulder
and make eye contact with her to try to get her to relax. While making physical contact with her, we pulled ourselves around
the rig and explored it. I paid very close attention to her, to make sure their were no problems. After twenty minutes or so,
we called the dive and went back to the boat. Back onboard, we talked about the dive and relaxed.
Dive #3: Marvin's Reef (Depth:=73, Avg:=58ft, Time:=30, Viz:=5-10ft, and Temp:=47)
With time running short and our due time back to Long Beach getting closer, the captain changed our third dive. From Catalina's Italian Gardens to Marvin's Reef off Long Beach. The current was ripping when I entered the water. I had to work fairly hard to get to the anchor line and then I waited for Matt and Lori to catch up. We dropped down and I took their picture. They quickly decided that the visibility was crap and it was too cold. I could not disagree with them, but I wanted to get a few pictures so I say down. I took a compass reading and off I went to the reef. After exploring for about 15 minutes, I ran into Michelle, Aaron and one of the divemasters. I figured I would tag along and enjoy a guided tour. After about 10 minutes, Michelle and Aaron were cold. I could really understand this, as they were in wetsuit in 47 degree water. I also was cold in my DRYSUIT so they must have been freezing. When they signaled to me that they were cold and wanted to surface I quickly agreed because I was also
running low on NDL and needed to cut the dive short. Unfortunately, we surfaced slightly down current from the boat.
We quickly worked to swim to the down line, but by the time we caught it, we were at the end of the line.
Aaron and I fought for a while to kick and pull ourselves to the boat. I quickly used the last of my energy and decided
my EGO could go to hell. I did one wave of my arm to signal that I could use a pull in. I did not want to signal that I
had a major emergency, but I could not remember a signal for "I'm fine but I needed to be pulled in". So, the divemaster swam
out and talked to me and them we were pulled it. It was NOT easy in the current to pull us. Wow, that an INTERESTING experience!!
On the trip home, about 7 of us had a nice dinner at El Torito and talked about the day's events. This was a nice way to end the day's adventures!
Today was a great learning experience for the group, something we will not forget.
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